NJ/NY/CT/MA/VT in the late spring

[Driver8]

Yep, good advice, that will be the plan, I'll stay on top of conditions out there using this fine forum and hit the trail as early as possible after early April (I have commitments up until then). Thanks all!

I live in CT and hike here a lot. It's great here in late April. Early to mid-May is when the trees tend to leaf out. It's a beautiful time of year, with tons of sun. As noted, can be pretty cold some nights, with the occasional excursion into the 80s days, even 90s, rarely.

The proscription on VT mud season hiking certainly applies, though the problem is the place is called "Vermud" for a reason. It's muddy there most of the time when it's not frozen, at least on large portions of the year. My first VT hike, of Stratton on October 9, 2010, I ran into numerous mud pits, and not all up above 3K elevation.

My second Stratton hike was May 19, 2012, a relatively dry year, and it was not muddy at all in what normally is the height of mud season. Gotta monitor trail condition reports such as at newenglandtrailconditions.com (which I had done for that May hike, so I knew mud wouldn't be an issue). Sorry if that link is a duplicate - I didn't read through the entire thread closely.

I say go for it - unless it's an unusually bad year, Spring hiking 150 miles either side of the CT/NY border is good going - a beautiful time of year.

[Dogwood]

Last year our AT NOBO quest ended at Highpoint NJ (~mile 1333), hoping to make it as far north as possible next late spring (and finish to Katadin in late Summer/early fall). I was wondering how the trail conditions were at that time. Our start date is very flexible, but my question for folks familiar with AT conditions in this section:

Would a very-late April start be reasonable in NJ/NY/CT/MA and maybe 360 miles later, call it 3+ weeks, heading into Vermont in mid-late May? We're willing to call it quits whenever/wherever VT gets bad (muddy or whatever), wherever that happens to be. My main (Maine?) question is the typical conditions in NY/CT/MA in late April or mid-May. I do not care about cold weather or moderate snow, only very muddy trail conditions & black flies, that kind of thing.

I of course realize that late-spring conditions can vary quite a lot, just asking about "typical" average trends.

Any info appreciated!

Start date at High Pt I think depends on how far into VT you might want to hike and you anticipated pace. Some givens: 1) March 20 first day of spring 2) June 21 first day of summer. 3) May 25 Memorial day. When I hear someone mentioning considering starting a hike in late spring I assume that means the last 1/2 of spring. To me that means a start at High Pt around May 4 or during the first week of May OR AFTER. IMHO that sounds about right. Here's why.

It's about 260 miles from High Pt to N Adams(MA/VT state line). That should take you about 2.5 - 3 wks to hike those miles. 3 wks if you avg just under 90 miles per wk. If you plan on higher weekly mileage I would start about May 7-10. WHY. If you do plan on hiking deep into VT getting into the boreal coniferous forests it gets increasingly more muddy. Sure, you could deal with the mud but that's not the only issue. The earlier you hit the boreal coniferous forests in May the more destruction to the trail you do. In some places the Long Trail is more than a 15-20 ft wide quagmire. WHY? Because people are hiking the Long trail when it's muddy DESPITE THE WARNINGS! Take Green Mt Clubs link that Malto posted seriously. The Long Trail can be muddy, prohibitively so, from a trail destruction perspective, all the way into very late May/and into June. That's why GMC says wait to hike the Long Tr until after mud season or about after Memorial Day May 25. The later into May, perhaps even into June, you can plan on being on the Long Trail the better for not only you but for the trail giving time for the weather to settle down and the trail to somewhat start drying out.

It's about 360 miles from High Pt to Killington. And yes, you will be experiencing boreal coniferous forest in those miles. Heck, you'll be encountering that type of forest in Massachusetts - meaning some mud. The hike Section Hiker did from Mohican Outdoor CTR to Greenwood Lake(the NJ/NY border, this long lake is half in NJ half in NY, you'll see it from the AT on a nice ridge) is only about 62 miles and on somewhat different underfoot trail composition on a much harder overall under foot ridge(the Kittany Ridge) terrain ie; its' not as prone overall to mud compared to the AT a bit further north.

Now, if you only want to go maybe 300 miles or so part way into VT and starting at High Pt in early April weather is variable. It's a transitional month. It can be finicky. You might get a few days in the 60's, maybe even mid/high 70's with beautiful blue sunny skies followed up by several days of cold all day misty rain, some days with torrential cold spring downpours, with still the very real possibility of freezing rain and some snow with temps suddenly well below 32* at night and perhaps day time highs as low as 40* with wind making it seem colder with the wind chill factor. Then, it can change again to a fast warming trend. Here's the avg temps at High Point but I'm going to caution again that April typically has at least a few days where the temps are significantly statistically deviant from the average temps! That's April in New England even on much the AT even in the southeast and mid Atlantic states. http://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/tod...ocid=INSWEPL10 May is a more stable weather month for NJ/NY/CT/MA.

[Dogwood]

You'll be hitting the MA/VT state line( the Long Trail) on or close to May 25(Memorial day) IF it takes you 3 wks to hike those 260 miles IF you start on May 4 at High PT staying within GMC's general advice on avoiding the worst of the Long Trail mud season.

[Jeff]

The month of May is also when the GMC volunteers are out doing trail maintenance in Vermont. Lots of blowdowns already due to a December ice storm, certainly more to come.

[colorado_rob]

Bumping this original question for an update: How are things looking for a late-April starting NOBO from Highpoint NJ along the AT? I realize the east coast has been hammered by snow this winter, I was wondering how things are a bit inland... like NJ and NY along the AT... I do still realize that much further north (like well into VT) things can get wet/muddy quickly in May, but I'm willing to stop whenever this gets too nasty. I'll be returning in late summer to pick up and hopefully finish on Katadin.

Any info appreciated!

[Slo-go'en]

Still too early to tell. The North East is projected to stay "seasonably cool" through March. It's still possible to get a few more snow storms. In fact another is slated to come this weekend, at least for the mountains.

But with the rest of the country warming up quickly, it's bound to get here sooner then later. All in all, it depends on the storm track during April and May. The jet stream typically continues to dips over New England into June, which directs storms here. With cold, Canadian air lingering over the N.E. and warm, moist air coming in from the ocean and the south, it rains a lot during April and May.

[Rain Man]

Butting in to say I'm interesting in thread on my own behalf. I currently plan to finish off NY the first week of June, hiking from the Hudson River to Connecticut, taking about 5 leisurely days.

[linus72]

covering NY section 2 (and maybe part if not all of section 3) last weekend of April. Judging by a campground hike in Macedonia Brook that time last year to test out our new tent (which performed flawlessly in a major all night downpour) I'm planning to bring sufficient rain gear. BUT, hoping it will be nice. At the least, we will be tenting in shelter sites so if its REALLY crappy we can spend some time in the shelter and watch the rain fall... I've been rained on enough times on section hikes now that I'm used to it. Its still better than sitting at my desk any day.

[mcgrabo]

Thanks for your response Cosmo. I have lived in VT my entire life and did not realize it was that bad here. I walk in the woods on the LT / AT 5 or 6 times a week for about 3 miles early in the morning. I guess I am lucky that I don't walk where folks seem to be having all the trouble with flies, mud and the weather.